This invention relates generally to hog watering systems, and more specifically to apparatus for adjustably holding a hog watering pipe.
In recent years the business of raising hogs for commercial sale has become a very sophisticated undertaking. Advances in the technology include the development of hog confinement systems which drastically reduce the labor costs involved with pork production. Most confinement systems in use today include a walled structure with a specially designed slatted floor, a sanitary flushing system, an automatic feeding apparatus, a demand watering apparatus, and sometimes even an air conditioning system.
Normally, the watering devices employed have comprised a nipple valve which the hog learns to either nudge or suckle to obtain water. Such device have, heretofore, been fixed to the wall of the confinement system to maintain the nipple valve at a fixed height above the floor. The problem with this arrangement is that the hogs increase in size and eventually are unable to obtain sufficient amounts of fluids from the nipple. With a fixed-height watering system, it is very inconvenient to make adjustments for hog size, or it is very expensive to install and maintain multiple nipple valve waterers at varying heights.
The invention to be described below is designed to remedy the above-noted problem and increase the efficiency of the system.